The article is devoted to the doctrine of criminal law, which is considered as a theoretical concept aimed at preventing crime and embodying in its content the grounds for establishing criminal law norms and the validity of the requirements provided for in them. The doctrine of criminal law, according to the author, is formed by the target orientation of criminal law regulation conditioned by the protective function; the object of criminal law protection in the form of a certain structured set of public relations; socially dangerous behavior as a source of danger threatening it; a method of protecting public relations, the core part of which is the mechanism of criminal law regulation, and also, the predicted result of the implementation of these requirements of the doctrine.

The article draws special attention to the fact that the doctrine of criminal law cannot be considered as a system of dogmatic attitudes. Its provisions are formed taking into account the requirements of other social concepts and specific conditions of public life. Keywords: doctrine, object of criminal law protection, criminal behavior, mechanism of criminal law regulation, predicted result.